A powerful winter storm produced heavy snow across parts of central and northeast Wisconsin on December 28-29, 2015, as low pressure moved north from Arkansas to southern Lake Michigan.

Green Bay officially recorded 13.2 inches, most of that falling in only eight hours. That ranks fourth for the greatest December snowstorms in Green Bay (largest occurred on December 12-13, 1909 when 16.7" fell). In addition, very gusty winds were reported across the area, creating white-out conditions across portions of east-central Wisconsin. Winds gusted over 50 mph during the height of the storm in Green Bay, Kewaunee, Algoma, and Marinette. Thundersnow was reported at several locations, including the Green Bay area and the Lake Michigan shoreline.

This was the first major snowstorm of the 2015-16 winter season for central and eastern Wisconsin.

At right is a radar mosaic as the storm moved across the state. (Click for full view.)

Snowfall

High Winds

Satellite Imagery

Photographs

Here's the storm totals map of Wisconsin. (Click image for full view.)

For a list of the snowfall totals, please click here. Additional snowfall reports can be found here.

This was a powerful storm, and impacted much of the center of the country, ranging from snow for the Sun Bowl at El Paso in far West Texas to heavy snow in Wisconsin. Other notable impacts included large snow drifts in Texas, heavy ice accumulation in Oklahoma, tornadoes in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and record flooding on the Mississippi River.

Below is a water vapor satellite image showing this powerful storm as it lifts out of the Southern Plains and towards the Great Lakes. You can see the tremendous amount of moisture brought up to fuel our heavy snows.

Here is a visible satellite image of the storm from shortly after the snow began in Central and East Central Wisconsin. It has a tremendous span, from snow in the northern United States to a cold front that reached through the Gulf of Mexico.

Here's a picture of the NWS Green Bay office the morning of December 29. Note the 4-5 foot drifts in front of the building.

Here are some before/after pictures from December 28 vs December 29.

Here are pictures of the upper air building at the NWS Green Bay the morning of December 29. Drifts both inside and outside of the building!